Al Sada, minister of state for energy and industry since
2007, was named to his new post by Qatar’s Emir Hamad bin
Khalifa al-Thani, the government-run Qatar News Agency said
today. The change came as the Persian Gulf sheikhdom, holder of
the third-largest gas reserves, prepared to begin operating the
last of 14 liquefied gas plants, a milestone marking an increase
in its capacity for making the fuel by 15 percent to 77 million
tons a year.

Attiyah will retain his position of deputy prime minister
and will become the head of the Emir’s court, called the Diwan.

Al Sada’s appointment may be a reward for his having been
“a good administrator,” Samuel Ciszuk, senior Middle East
energy analyst at IHS Global Insight in London, said in a phone
interview today. “The energy portfolio will change because
there won’t be the same brilliant growth. It will focus more on
administrating what they have rather than growing and
formulating new policies.”

Al Sada earned a Ph.D. from the University of Manchester’s
Institute of Science and Technology in the U.K. and a bachelor’s
degree in Marine Science and Geology from Qatar University,
according to the energy and industry ministry’s website. Before
becoming a minister of state, he worked as managing director of
RasGas Co. Ltd., one of Qatar’s two state-owned production
companies for liquefied gas, or LNG.

Attiyah, in his 19 years as minister of energy and
industry, oversaw Qatar’s development from a country reliant on
oil exports averaging 480,000 barrels a day in 1992 into the
world’s largest exporter of LNG, gas chilled to liquid form for
easy transport by ship. He was born in 1952 and started his
career in the Ministry of Finance & Petroleum in 1972.

“Al-Attiyah’s been a powerhouse figure,” said Bill
Farren-Price, chief executive officer of Winchester, U.K.-based
consultant Petroleum Policy Intelligence. “He masterminded the
whole of Qatar’s downstream expansion. People think of his
achievements in the LNG sector as being really substantial.
It’ll be hard for his successor to follow all that.”

Attiyah’s ‘New Challenge’

“It’s a new challenge,” al-Attiyah said today of his new
position. He spoke before attending a dinner with the visiting
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, declining to
comment further.

Qatar exported its first LNG cargo in 1996. Qatar Liquefied
Gas Co. plans to bring its seventh and final liquefaction plant
into operation early this year. Qatar Liquefied Gas, known as
QatarGas, is a venture between Qatar Petroleum, Exxon Mobil
Corp., ConocoPhillips, Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Shell Plc.

Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. started its seventh
and final LNG production unit last year. RasGas, as this company
is known, is a venture between Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil.

Qatar’s development of LNG exports has driven its economic
growth, which averaged 17 percent over the past five years,
according to the International Monetary Fund.

Second Richest

Today the peninsular neighbor to Saudi Arabia has the
world’s second-highest standard of living behind Liechtenstein,
according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency World
Factbook. The country is spending billions to develop its
tourism industry and transport links before it hosts the soccer
World Cup in 2022.

Attiyah’s new role in the Emir’s court may reflect his
achievements as energy minister, Ciszuk said.

“It is a clear promotion,” the analyst said. “He goes to
become one of the trusted advisers. The head of the Emiri Diwan
is a very important position in the Gulf Cooperation Council
states.”

Al Sada may not speak as freely as Attiyah did about the
inner workings of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries, Ciszuk said. Attiyah was the group’s longest-serving
minister.

“What could be appreciated with Attiyah is he came from a
country like Qatar, which although closer to Saudi in OPEC
policy, didn’t have the same interests,” he said. “Attiyah has
been at OPEC for such a long time, built up a reputation and
been able to act as a doyen of OPEC.”

The nation of 1.6 million people is the second-smallest
crude producer in OPEC ahead of Ecuador. OPEC will meet next in
June unless the rise in oil prices to near $100 a barrel prompts
the organization to meet earlier.